Meet Alisha

Studied Business Management at University

Whilst Alisha has grown up with retail, she wanted to experience the broad variety of careers a company like Lidl can offer. The Lidl placement has given her a sense of the scale of opportunity that lies ahead. She’s thrived in her year with us and found talents she never knew she had. For now, it’s time to reflect and decide just what her future could look like.

Where are you studying?

My degree is in International Business and that's at the University of Liverpool. I am doing the year in industry placement.It's a third year placement out so I've done two years at University.

How did you end up getting the role at Lidl?

I thought that it was perfect for me because I don't really have a certain idea of what I want to do in the future. The application process as well was quite simple. It was a CV and a cover letter and a really short telephone interview, and then an assessment centre and a final interview. It was all quite a quick turnaround. They just really want to get to know you as a person and how you work, which I thought really suited me. I thought it'd be really intimidating coming to assessment centre interviews but I enjoyed the Lidl recruitment process.

Can you tell me a bit about your placement please?

The placement's been a really varied experience. I spent my first three weeks in sales, then I spent two weeks in logistics, which is the warehouse. Then I spent a week each in supply chain, property and admin. Then after that you get to go back and choose modules and they're each two months long.

Is there a part you’ve enjoyed the most so far?

For me, HR has been my absolute favourite. Especially because at uni, I didn't really take too much interest towards HR modules or classes. I realised I really enjoy training people and helping them become better at what they do and delivering learning. But I was in sales and I really enjoyed that as well and head office because it's all project-based work.

Do you feel that you’ve made an impact in your time here?

Yes, definitely. I think with my placement you do get such real responsibility in store, and you just get completely trusted with the duty manager role. In HR I took so much management over from my training managers, all his paperwork, everything, managing the seminars, running them myself, organising everything for them, so you do get a lot of responsibility. I think it just helps you grow as a person so much more.

What do you think has been your biggest achievement in your time here?

I think it was when I was at head office because for two weeks I had to write a set of operational instructions about a new concept that's getting sent to stores. Me and another placement student put together a document around 30 pages long and then we presented it to senior managers. They said to us that they would only have to make really minor changes and it could be potentially sent to 650 stores.

What are the people like at Lidl?

I love everyone here. I think everyone's got a really good sense of team culture. Everyone's very grounded in what they do, especially the higher up people get, it's as if they become more down-to-earth here.

Has there been anything that's surprised you about Lidl?

I think it's the simplicity is probably the most surprising thing, but somehow it just works really really well. The layout of our stores and the choice we offer, is so simple and that's why we're cheaper.

What does the future hold?

I know I can still stay in contact with Lidl throughout my final year of university and be a brand ambassador for the company. Something like that I would love to do. I love the company, I'd love to come back, but right now I still just don't know what division I would want to join.